Inner shoe for footwear

ABSTRACT

An inner shoe comprising a non-woven structure based on paper for fitting within footwear such as a ski boot to absorb perspiration. The inner shoe can be formed of one piece only by folding and joining the edges of the folded portions, or from two molded half-shells.

United States Patent [151 3,694,940

Stohr 51 Oct. 3, 1972 [54] INNER SHOE FOR FOOTWEAR 5 References Cited[72] Inventor: Rudolf Stohr, Tuttlingenlwurttemberg, Germany UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 73 Assignee: Dr. Justus Rieker & 00., Tuttfgggi 3413;:9*? 293i lingenlwumemberg Germany nms 2,642,678 6/1953 Fula ..36/1O X[22] Filed: Oct. 20, 1970 3,000,118 9/1961 O'Shea ..36/l0 l f 1 pp No:82,306 3,530,596 9/ 970 Kou mann 36/2 5 AL Primary Examiner-Patrick D.Lawson [30] Foreign Application P i i D Att0meyMason, Fenwick 84Lawrence Nov. 1S, 1969 Germany ..G 69 44 404.8 57 ABSTRACT An inner shoecomprising a non-woven structure il. ..36/10, based on p p for i gwithin footwear such as a ski [58] Field of Search ..36/2.5 R, 2.5 AL, 9A, 10 absmb pe'spmtm' can be fonned of one piece only by folding andjoining the edges of the folded portions, or from two molded halfshells.

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ATTDQ N ELYS INNER SHOE FOR FOOTWEAR The present invention relates to aninner shoe for footwear.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The expression boots" is generallyunderstood to mean weatherproof footwear which is required to prevent,in particular, penetration by moisture. In order to protect the foot ofa wearer of a boot of this kind against the cold, it is already known touse inner shoes" made from knitted and partly lined textile materials.It is true that such inner shoes" can, like stockings, be washed, andtherefore used again and again, but they are relatively costly and, ifthey are to be changed frequently, they involve considerable purchasingexpenses. In this connection, it must be remembered that the foot issubjected, in such weatherproof boots, which are not very air-permeable,and can even be completely impermeable, in particular in the case ofrubber and plastics boots, to increased perspiration, so that the innershoe requires in many cases, even after being worn only once, to bechanged and washed.

This applies particularly to sports boots, such as ski boots, which areoften continuously in use throughout a holiday. For these purposes, itis necessary that several pairs of textile inner shoes should beavailable and that they should be frequently washed. That is, however,inconvenient, and in many cases it is only possible to a limited extent.1

As a result of perspiration absorption, textile inner shoes should beregarded as personal underclothing, and, for hygienic reasons, areunsuitable for commercial hiring. However, hiring of clothing is acommercial activity which at the present day frequently extends to skiboots.

With the invention, it is intended to provide a thermally insulatinginner shoe which has a special capacity for the absorption of moistureand is capable of being manufactured so inexpensively that it may bethrown away, in the manner of a disposable article, after soiling orafter being used on one occasion only. According to the invention, thisis achieved by manufacturing the inner shoe from a non-woven materialbased on paper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is toprovide an inner shoe for footwear, said inner shoe comprising astructure made from a non-woven material based on paper.

Non-woven materials based on paper have the properties of good thermalinsulation and moisture absorption capacity. They are inexpensive andmay be manufactured so as to have a degree of strength adequate towithstand the stressing to which an inner shoe is normally subjected inuse.

A pasty basic mass for producing a non-woven paper structure is itselfcapable of being pressed-out in suitable molds, so that an inner shoemay be manufactured by assembling two pre-shaped half shells."Preferably, however, the inner shoe is manufactured from nonwovenelements cut or punched from larger webs of non-woven material.Depending on the cut and/or ability to undergo curvature of thenon-woven structure, the inner shoe may be assembled from one or moresuch non-woven structural elements. The nonwoven structural element orelements is or are assembled in the shape of the inner shoe, the seamspreferably being adhesively secured together. In order to compact thenon-woven materials, to prevent the penetration of moisture and/ormerely to achieve less expensive and simpler assembly at the seams, thefibers of the non-woven structure may be coated with a plastics coatingon the outwardly facing upper surface, such a plastics coatingpermitting the plastics welding of the elements of the non-wovenstructure at the seams. The plastics coating may be produced by thespraying on of a plastics dispersion or solution.

The inner shoe may consist for example of a onepiece non-woven paperstructure designed to be continuous (seamless) in the bottom zone of theshoe and joined together by means of two seams, one of which extendsfrom the toe, via the instep, as far as the opening for insertion of thefoot of the wearer, whereas the other extends along the rear apex lineof the shoe. The non-woven paper structure may, however, also bedesigned to be continuous in the zone of the Achilles tendon of thewearer, and joined together in the bottom, toe and instep zones. Whenthe shoe is manufactured from two separate non-woven structuralelements, the latter preferably have the same shape and are joinedtogether along a seam extending in the longitudinal direction of theshoe.

Depending on the thickness of the material of the non-woven structure,it may be expedient to reinforce the inner shoe in its bottom zone bydesigning the element or elements of the non-woven structure requiringto be joined together in this zone to overlap there.

The non-woven paper structures used may themselves have the ability toundergo curvature, or a resilience such that the inner shoe (within aspecific size range) adapts itself to the shape of the foot of the user.In order to facilitate introduction of the foot into the shoe havingregard to the capacity for curvature of the non-woven paper structureused, it may be expedient to provide the shoe, preferably in the instepzone, with a slot extending from the shoe opening, those portions of theshoe upper which constitute the slot edging preferably being designed tooverlap over the slot in use of the shoe.

Owing to the inexpensive starting material and simple manner ofmanufacture, the inner shoe according to the invention, which may bemanufactured as a mass-produced article, can without difficulty beproduced so inexpensively that, from the economic viewpoint, even if itis used only once it readily holds its own with the known inner shoesmade from knitted textile materials. Indeed, it is very much moreconvenient to handle, owing to the elimination of washing and drying, asis so in the case of any disposable article.

By the use of the inexpensive inner shoe according to the invention, thecommercial lending of ski boots may be given a considerable stimulus,since it becomes possible to offer for hire a boot which is entirelysatisfactory from the viewpoint of hygiene and which has not contactwith the foot perspiration of user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Two embodiments of the invention aredescribed in greater detail in the following description with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the one embodiment of inner shoeaccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section through a ski boot havinginserted therein an inner shoe according to FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the both parts which compose the otherembodiment of the inner shoe according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The inner shoe shown in FIG. 1 ismanufactured from a one-piece non-woven paper structure 1 designed to becontinuous in the zone of the Achilles tendon of a wearer, and havingtwo edges joined together by an adhesively connected seam 2 in thebottom, heel and instep zones. The foot introduction opening 3 in theankle zone may be widened by leaving unattached a portion of the seam 2extending in the zone of the instep.

The longitudinal section through a ski boot shown in FIG. 2 does notshow any kind of padding or the like. Vulcanized-on to the upper 4 ofthe ski boot is a sole 5 on the side of which facing the interior of theshoe there is arranged an insole 6. Inserted in the interior of the skiboot is the inner shoe 1 according to FIG. 1 (also shown in section).The seams 2 are omitted from FIG. 2, for clarity.

The inner shoe" according to the invention can also be manufactured fromtwo pieces of non-woven paper structure. These pieces 1', which areshown in FIG. 3, are, for instance, dish-like shaped (e.g. by pressingof the paper structure) and joined together by an adhesively seamextending near the longitudinal central plane of the inner shoe and theedges 2' of the both pieces.

I claim:

1. A single usage type inexpensive inner shoe for footwear, said innershoe comprising a structure made from a single ply of non-woven paperbase material.

2. An inner shoe as specified in claim 1, wherein said structure is ofone piece unitary construction and includes at least one joining seamjoining two engaging edges of said structure.

3. An inner shoe as specified in claim 1, wherein said structure furthercomprises two individual non-woven structural elements and at least onejoining seam attaching said elements together.

4. An inner shoe as specified in claim 1, wherein said structure furtherincludes at least one joining seam comprising juxtaposed edges of saidstructure and adhesive means securing said edges to each other.

5. An inner shoe as specified in claim 1, wherein said structure furtherincludes a plastic coating on the outwardly facing upper surfacethereof.

6. An inner shoe as specified in claim 5, wherein said structure furtherincludes at least one joining seam comprising juxtaposed edges of saidstructure and a plastic weld securing said edges to each other.

7. An inner shoe as specified in claim 1, wherein said structure furtherincludes at least one joining seam extending substantially in thelongitudinal direction of the shoe.

8. An inner shoe as specified in claim 1, wherein said structure furthercomprises bottom edges thereof in hi all 0 erla in relat' n.

il An inr ier sl ige a s speci led in claim 1, wherein said structureincludes an instep zone having an opening in the top thereof forinsertion of a wearers foot, and a cut away portion extending from saidopening, facilitating entry of said foot into said structure.

1. A single usage type inexpensive inner shoe for footwear, said innershoe comprising a structure made from a single ply of nonwoven paperbase material.
 2. An inner shoe as specified in claim 1, wherein saidstructure is of one piece unitary construction and includes at least onejoining seam joining two engaging edges of said structure.
 3. An innershoe as specified in claim 1, wherein said structure further comprisestwo individual non-woven structural elements and at least one joiningseam attaching said elements together.
 4. An inner shoe as specified inclaim 1, wherein said structure further includes at least one joiningseam comprising juxtaposed edges of said structure and adhesive meanssecuring said edges to each other.
 5. An inner shoe as specified inclaim 1, wherein said structure further includes a plastic coating onthe outwardly facing upper surface thereof.
 6. An inner shoe asspecified in claim 5, wherein said structure further includes at leastone joining seam comprising juxtaposed edges of said structure and aplastic weld securing said edges to each other.
 7. An inner shoe asspecified in claim 1, wherein said structure further includes at leastone joining seam extending substantially in the longitudinal directionof the shoe.
 8. An inner shoe as specified in claim 1, wherein saidstructure further comprises bottom edges thereof in mutually overlappingrelation.
 9. An inner shoe as specified in claim 1, wherein saidstructure includes an instep zone having an opening in the top thereoffor insertion of a wearer''s foot, and a cut away portion extending fromsaid opening, facilitating entry of said foot into said structure.